Objective: Social support is an important component of recovery-based interventions for individuals living with severe mental illness (IWSMI). Clubhouses are local community centers that facilitate the development of meaningful relationships among IWSMI through an empowering structure and engagement with the work-ordered day. This review synthesizes research on social networks in Clubhouses to provide insights on the role of supportive relationships in mental illness recovery, including the size and features of social networks of Clubhouse members, methodological trends and gaps, and the associations between social networks and demographic variables, recovery, health, and perceived social support.
Method: Research on social networks within Clubhouses were identified and analyzed following a systematic six-stage scoping review design.
Results: Twelve articles across six studies were included. Results revealed considerable variation in social network interview methods and network size and features. Overall findings suggest that network size is not consistently associated with reported loneliness, social support, recovery, or quality of life. A deep relationship with at least one supportive person, level of perceived affiliation with Clubhouses, or positive comments from network members may be more or equally valuable than a larger network. Some studies found that types of relationships were associated with unique benefits. Stronger peer networks were associated with relationship satisfaction, while increased connections with health care professionals and family were associated with reduced hospitalizations.
Conclusions and implications for practice: Future research should diversify research designs, expand the use of social network analysis and visualization, measure additional outcomes including recovery and health, and increase sample diversity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).